DOTC telecoms units back to CICT again

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has completed the transfer of all its communications divisions to the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), following a directive by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Executive Order 780 has ordered the transfer of the Telecommunications Office (Telof) and the Telecommunications Policy and Planning Office back to the CICT.

DOTC Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso III, who heads Telof, will assume a position along with incumbent CICT Commissioners Timoteo Diaz de Rivera, Monchito Ibrahim and Consuelo Perez.

The transfer followed the initial transfer of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to the CICT last January 7.

Incidentally, both the NTC and Telof were transferred from the DOTC to the CICT when it was created through EO 269. The transfer was repealed by EO 603 in 2007 which put the NTC and TELOF back to the control of DOTC.

The latest EO effectively repeals EO 603.

In a telephone interview, Diaz de Rivera said they would still map out the integration of Telof into the organizational structure of the CICT, which would begin in the coming days.

One of the issues in this integration is the transfer of over 4,000 Telof employees under the control of the CICT.

CICT has been involved in the rationalization of Telof operations before it was transferred back to the DoTC.

Diaz de Rivera said the CICT is hoping for the quick passage of a bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which has been in the works for several years.

Diaz de Rivera said the proposal has passed at the House of Representatives while the Senate version is on its final reading.

“The creation of the DICT is more permanent and from there we can move on to pursuing IT projects for the government,” Diaz de Rivera said.

The creation of the DICT was proposed when the CICT was created in 2004. By Alexander Villafania - INQUIRER.net

CICT proposes incentives for early IPv6 adoption

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

Hoping to encourage local telecommunications networks and Internet service providers to move to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) is proposing incentives to early adopters, an official said Thursday.

"As the development champion of the Cyber Corridor Super region, I am committed to encouraging the adoption of next-generation networks or NGNs and IPv6 by telecom operators and ISPs. The CICT, in coordination with other government agencies and other stakeholders, would like to see that appropriate policies, rules and regulations on NGN and IPv6 are put in place, including the possibility of providing incentives for early IPv6 adoption," said CICT director Philip Varilla, reading the speech of CICT chairman Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III during the second day of the IPv6 Summit here.

Varilla said the CICT was "in a good position" to lead and participate in drafting a Philippine IPv6 policy with the National Telecommunications Commission and other stakeholders in the local industry.

CICT also wants to look into the country's "preparedness, and technical capabilities," as well as to determine the implications to businesses with the inevitable migration to IPv6.

The current Internet address spaces using the Internet Protocol version 4 or IPv4, is running out, experts said during the IPv6 Summit here. This spells problems for future Internet users. IPv6 is the next "language" of the Internet. The world has been using IP version 4 since the 1980s. But Internet experts are now saying that the IP addresses using this older version are almost depleted.

The Advance Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) and the Philippine Network Operators Group have set up the Philippine Open Internet Exchange to encourage more local industry and networks to move to IPv6. There are currently five local networks that have joined the Philippine Open Internet Exchange, which is the first Internet exchange in the country that supports both IPv4 and IPv6.

These local networks include Globe Telecom, Bitstop, Philcom, International Rice Research Institute and Bell Telecoms. The ASTI-run Philippine Research, Education and Government Information Network also operate on IPv6.

Varilla said ASTI has been leading the local research on IPv6 adoption in the country.

"ASTI has successfully encouraged PLDT to forge separate agreements with the organization and the University of the Philippines related to projects on rural telecommunications, mobile telecommunications, IPv6, broadband networking, toll online billing system and wireless communications," he said.

Varilla said that local telecommunications providers "have [also] started to position themselves in the path to IPV6 migration."

He cited Internet service providers and telecommunication companies like Mozcom, Globetel, Globenet and PLDT have registered with IPv6 address assignments to the Asia-Pacific Network Information Center, the country's regional Internet registry.

"We also need to pay attention to the challenges associated with this next-generation protocol. A lot of preparation needs to be done, including assessment of the Philippines' readiness to shift to this new protocol, identification of the most practical national strategy on the timing of the migration and an in-depth cost-benefit analysis," Varilla said.

More than 200 people attended the IPv6 Summit in Manila. The IPv6 Summit was organized by the IPv6 Forum of the Philippines, Department of Science and Technology-ASTI, and the Philippine Network Operators Group.

Comelec advisory council: Award contract to remaining bidder

Use all legal means to implement automation

The advisory council to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has reiterated its earlier position to award the contract to a bidder found to have showed "sufficient compliance" with the technical requirements of the poll body for the automation of elections in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The advisory council, led by the chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), met Saturday to discuss its reaction to the poll body's earlier decision to set aside automation of the elections in ARMM after the latest bidder failed to comply with a number of mandatory technical requirements, and last weeks' plan by lawmakers to suspend the procurement act to help Comelec pursue automation.

The Comelec agreed Monday to proceed with automation in four of the six provinces of ARMM.

"With regard to the DRE component, we reiterate our comments in our letter dated 3 April 2008 that the sole bidder has demonstrated sufficient compliance for the Comelec to proceed with the awarding of the bid," the advisory council said in a resolution signed by majority of its members, a copy of which was obtained by INQUIRER.net.

"We have no objection to the Comelec's decision to expand the deployment of direct recording electronic (DRE) technology from two cities or municipalities to an entire province, but we still believe that scaling down the deployment of DRE technology will lessen the risk of a failed automation," the resolution added.

The council was referring to a decision of the Comelec to reject the bid made by Smartmatic Sahi joint venture after the latter failed to comply with several mandatory technical requirements set out in the request for proposal, which was drafted by the poll body in collaboration with the council.

The rejection of the bid follows the disqualification of a previous bid for non-eligibility, leaving no qualified bidders remaining for the automation project, which the Comelec considers a pilot for the automation of local and national elections in 2010.

According to Comelec resolution 8436 dated April 11, 2008, the Comelec en banc has adopted the recommendation of its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) to reject the bid tendered by the joint venture.

According to the resolution, Smartmatic Sahi bidded for several components of the automated ARMM elections, namely the electronic voting system with integrated election management system; the secure electronic transmission system for election results; the consolidation and canvassing system; and the systems integration and over-all project management.

Meanwhile, the advisory council said that the Comelec should use whatever legal means to proceed with the procurement process for the optical-mark reader component of the ARMM poll automation.

The advisory council said it will continue providing advice and technical assistance to the Comelec with regard to the automation of elections starting with ARMM and eventually the 2010 elections.

The advisory council is the body of expert advisers created under Republic Act 9369 and given the task of recommending to the Comelec which technology to use for the automation of elections.

The advisory council has recommended the use of two technologies in the ARMM elections: direct recording electronic and optical-mark reader.

DRE uses a touch-screen or touch-pad technology for voting, while OMR requires voters to complete a paper-based ballot which is then fed into a specially designed machine, similar to a scanner.

The advisory council had recommended a six-month schedule for the deployment of the automated election system. This will also include training of voters and the users in Comelec, and "mock elections."

The Department of Budget and Management has allocated about P867 million for the automation of the elections in ARMM. By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

Consolidated cybercrime bill to be filed this week

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

A consolidated version of a cybercrime bill will be filed this week, a state prosecutor has told INQUIRER.net.

"We're drafting an omnibus or consolidated bill. We're filing it this week," said Department of Justice State Prosecutor Geronimo Sy, in a telephone interview.

"This is everyone's responsibility," Sy said, as he pointed out that the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) is taking the lead in working for the bill in Congress.

CICT officials were unavailable for comment.

Last year, the DoJ created a task force to deal with cybersecurity issues in legislation and investigation. The group was created to pursue the e-government agenda, institutionalize a cybersecurity regime and implement laws.

Last year, Sy had said that the task force would work closely with the Council of Europe, a private organization, and local experts composed of IT practitioners and other stakeholders.

Among the top priorities of the group was to work for the passage of the cybercrime prevention act, which failed to pass in the previous Congress.

The task force was expected to work with the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police.

Also last year, the CICT, DoJ and the Council of Europe agreed to work together on the cybercrime bill.

So far, the country has convicted two hackers under the exisiting Republic Act No. 8792 or the Electronic Commerce Law.

NBI exasperated over delay of cybercrime bill, hits CICT

Melvin G. Calimag - Manila Bulletin

An IT officer of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has lambasted the continued delay in the passage of the country’s cybercrime law, pointing out in particular the failure of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to submit an industry-drafted amendment to strengthen a bill currently pending in Congress.


"We’re frustrated in our law-enforcement work because we cannot go after these cybercriminals. Every minute that passes without a law on cybercrime is always an opportunity for them to do what they want," said Palmer Mallari, executive officer of the NBI anti-fraud and computers crime division.

Mallari made the comment during the sidelines of a recent e-commerce forum sponsored by the Philippine Internet Commerce Society (PICS) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at the Ateneo Professional School in Rockwell Center, Makati City.

The NBI official was specifically upset when CICT chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III delivered the event’s keynote and mentioned the agency’s current efforts to push for the ratification of a cybercrime bill.

"It seems all of these are for speech purposes and nothing concrete is being done," he said, adding that the NBI’s hands are tied in prosecuting IT-related offenses.

Mallari was indignant at what he said was the CICT’s inaction in submitting to lawmakers the amendments culled during a seminar on cybercrime held late last year.

The workshop he was referring to was the one sponsored by Microsoft Philippines that was attended by private and public sector representatives, including Catanduanes congressman Joseph Santiago, as well as foreign participants from the Council of Europe.

During the workshop’s conclusion, Santiago joined Roxas-Chua and Microsoft Philippines managing director Rafael "Pepeng" Rollan in signing a manifesto of support for a strong cybercrime bill.

Mallari said it has been almost six months since the amendments were turned over to the CICT, but the agency has yet to submit it to Congress through the sponsors of the proposed law. Before coming up with the recommendation, participants in the workshop met and discussed the needed amendments from July to November, he said.

But according to Roxas-Chua, the CICT has already formed a technical working group to firm up the amendments so it can be turned over to Congress. He, however, refused to indicate a definite date for its submission.

The technical working group is temporarily being headed by lawyer Teodoro Kalaw IV. He is standing in for fellow lawyer Claro Parlade, who is currently out of the country.

The Philippines desperately needs a law that will address emergence of new crimes such as cybersex and child trafficking. The country has an E-commerce Law, which was signed into law in June 2000 by former president Joseph Estrada, but this delves mostly on electronic evidence and penalties on common Internet offenses such as hacking and copyright violations.

Gov’t lacks technical know-how to evaluate ICT bids--exec

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net
PASIG City, Philippines -- Government lacks the technical capability to evaluate highly sophisticated projects in information and communications technology (ICT), a former government executive admitted.

This was the general concern gathered by Virgilio Pena, former chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), after conducting focused group consultations with government, the private sector and civil society organizations.

Pena is currently a consultant for the “E-governance for Effectiveness and Efficiency” (E3) project of management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint. Bearing Point has won the bid to implement the E3 project under a grant from the Canadian International Development Agency.

Pena agreed there was indeed a need to develop government's capability to evaluate ICT bids to avoid the repeat of deals like the controversial national broadband network (NBN) project.

Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr., the key witness in the ongoing Senate investigation in the controversial NBN project, has testified that deals such as this are often tailor-fit to suppliers who have strong political connections. In most instances, government procurement is often supplier-driven, which means bid specifications often favor one supplier.

Pena said the E3 consultations with the different sectors are part of the initial activities leading to a study that the E3 project is putting together.

Hoping to push the idea of more public-private partnerships in ICT projects in government, the study also intends to produce a set of policy recommendations for e-governance, including those dealing with ICT procurement, the former government executive said.

Among the policy recommendations being studied are possible amendments to the implementing rules and regulations of the Government Procurement Reform Act and the Build-Operate-Transfer law, he said

DTI names four more ‘next-wave’ cities

Balanga, Cainta, Legazpi and Urdaneta are the latest to be added into the government’s list of cities groomed as investment destinations for business process outsourcing (BPO).

Representatives from each of these four cities presented the respective local initiatives at the ongoing eServices conference.

Since 2005, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has included about 45 so-called "next wave" cities list.

The Commission on ICT (CICT), meanwhile, has certified 20 of these cities as ICT hubs, based on criteria such as worker supply, telecom infrastructure and other factors necessary to sustain a local BPO industry.

The goal of this campaign is to expand the BPO industry nationwide in anticipation of further investments from the global market.

"We are not concerned about demand. It’s the competitiveness we want to maintain," said CICT chairman Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua, in a briefing.

The BPA/P (Business Process Association of the Philippines), which is working with DTI and CICT, is targeting to grow industry revenues from $5 billion (as of 2007) to at least $12 billion by 2010.

Cebu and Davao were among the first to be recognized by the DTI as investment destinations outside of Metro Manila. Since then, Cebu has attracted more 30 investors (including Accenture, IBM and India's Wipro) while Davao currently has seven locators (including call centers PeopleSupport and Link2Support), according to DTI's report.

Overall, there are at least 90 companies that either invested or expanded their operations in these cities, according to DTI. By Lawrence Casiraya - INQUIRER.net

Palace appoints new CICT commissioner

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

Veteran information technology professional Monchito Ibrahim who has been a consultant to the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) has finally been appointed as commissioner of the government body.

Ibrahim said he received his appointment papers Wednesday, and not Thursday as was reported earlier.

CICT commissioner Tim Diaz de Rivera confirmed this news earlier in a text message to INQUIRER.net.

"I will be in charge of the Cyberservices group, which takes care of the offshore and outsourcing industry," he said in a telephone interview. "Under this position I'm designated to take care of the Cyberservices corridor [project]."

The Cyberservices Services corridor is part of the super regions identified by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her 2007 State of the Nation Address. These strategic areas in the Philippines have been identified as priority areas by government for support. These areas are also the hubs of offshore outsourcing investments in the country.

Ibrahim said he is also currently involved in the development of regional ICT organizations to encourage growth in the provinces. Ibrahim has been tasked as officer-in-charge by CICT chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III who is leaving for the US soon.

Ibrahim said he has often been described as "acting commissioner" in the agency by his colleagues and staff because he has been actively helping the agency in his private capacity as a consultant since 2006.

The CICT is an interim policymaking body under the Office of the President, which is mandated to oversee the information and communications technology activities of government.

CICT wants to become lead agency for BPO

By Lawrence Casiraya - Inquirer

The Commission on ICT aims to become the “single-point of contact” for investors in the outsourcing industry.

“If there are concerns (from investors), they can come to us,” said CICT chair Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua in an interview.

The CICT recently signed a formal partnership with the Trade and Industry department's regional operations group to implement an ICT strategic roadmap. The partnership also involves the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPA/P).

The agreement basically aims to mobilize all three parties in developing regional ICT hubs that will accommodate BPO investors.

Under the partnership, CICT's role will be to provide technical assistance. The DTI, meanwhile, will be working with local government units.

“Based on industry feedback, investors cannot figure out who exactly in the government is championing BPO,” Roxas-Chua said.

“What we want to become is the coordinating body for different agencies involved,” he added.

BPA/P is targeting to reach $12 billion in revenues and add half a million more workers by 2010.

“These are achievable goals but all stakeholders need to work together,” Roxas-Chua said.

New CICT chair undergoes week-long briefing

By Lawrence Casiraya - INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- On his third day on the job, Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) chair Ray Anthony Roxas Chua said he is in for a week's worth of briefing.

The 31 year-old Chua attended today's inauguration rites by call center firm ICT Group. He was asked up onstage but in his speech, he made clear that he was still in the process of dipping his toes on being the top ICT person in government.

He did, however, offer a few thoughts on the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

"BPO is one of the brightest growth spots in the country's economy,” he said. “Further growth will depend on untapped areas outside of Metro Manila."

Chua, whose appointment was announced in August by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo but officially started work only last Monday, might as well be bracing himself for constant interaction with the local BPO sector.

The so-called Cyberservices Corridor project has been championed by President Arroyo herself, with the CICT spearheading it. This initiative maps out cities and provinces that are potential destinations for BPO investors.

Asked in an interview what current or future projects he initially wants to pursue, Chua declined to comment, adding he is being briefed on the nature of the work that awaits him at CICT.

Chua said he has worked with several tech firms in Silicon Valley in the US before returning to the country to attend to his family's manufacturing business.

CICT to develop shared software services for government use

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) plans to develop shared software services for government use, starting with a real property tax system that was developed by the National Computer Center (NCC).

Through the NCC’s Center of Excellence project, the CICT is looking at developing shared software applications.

One of these government applications include the Real Property Tax System, which is an open source-based software, now used by 300 municipalities in the country, said CICT Commissioner Tim Diaz de Rivera in an interview.

"We've deployed the Real Property Tax System in 300 municipalities. But it really takes months to set up the database for this system," the government executive said.

The difficulties in deploying such a system, and issues involving the lack of open source experts to man the system has led the CICT to think of developing a shared software services system, Diaz de Rivera added.

The idea is to develop a shared application for fifth- and sixth-class municipalities. So the real property tax system can now be accessed via the web. The system will be set up in the provincial capital, which would translate to more cost savings and easier deployment, the government executive said.

The real property tax system was deployed in six municipalities in Cebu, he said.

"We will pilot this using the shared services of the application service provider (ASP) model so that several local government units (LGUs) can collaborate in improving the software and customizing it to their needs. We have identified the second district of Cebu as the pilot municipality," the CICT executive said.

Diaz de Rivera said there are more government applications that are available to other agencies. They include software system for financials, an electronic library (eLibrary) developed for the National Library, electronic governance system for local government units (eLGU) now used in NCC.

But CICT is looking at creating shared services for a national government accounting system, business permit and licenses system, real property taxes and treasury management.

During a conference of government executives, Diaz de Rivera said the CICT will also push the use of the Department of Budget and Management's Integrated Budgeting System in other agencies. The system has helped DBM in its budget execution process and eGovernance.

Meanwhile, the government executive said that the NCC is now conducting pilot test of collaboration software for back office productivity.

Village telephones: A waste of $137M

By Ma. Cecilia Rodriguez, Julie Alipala
Inquirer

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Before the National Broadband Network deal, there was the government’s Telepono Sa Barangay (TSB) project.

The TSB was a multimillion-dollar project started by the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) in the provinces of Mt. Province, Benguet, Abra, Apayao, Ifugao, and Kalinga, Quezon, Negros Oriental, Lanao del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya and Misamis Occidental, including this city, in 1998.

CICT is an attached agency of the Office of the President.

Little attention

Unlike the NBN, the TSB project appears to have stirred little or no interest at all among national leaders.

Despite claims it was riddled with graft, the TSB deal remained untouched by either the House or the Senate.

And so, in the absence of interest among lawmakers, some local officials are taking the initiative to scrutinize the deal behind the TSB.

In this city, the P50-million contract for the installation of a telephone system in rural barangays have outraged opposition figures who likened it to the NBN deal.

Local plan

The project under the TSB here was conceived in 2003 under the administration of former mayor Vicente Emano and contracted to Supplier Contractor and Network Communications Inc. (Scantel).

Opposition councilors said that of the 50 barangays targeted for the project, only four have actually received the telephone systems.

City councilors Roger Abaday and Zaldy Ocon have openly criticized the deal, saying the awarding of contract to Scantel was highly irregular.

They backed their claim with the annual audit report for 2005 by the City Auditor’s Office (COA), in which it was said that city hall failed to comply with auditing procedures with regards to the contract.

No design

“The city general services office (CGSO) failed to completely and promptly submit to the office of the audit team leader the necessary detailed engineering documents for timely review and verification of the contract for the P50-million City Rural Telephone System,” the document read.

City auditors said for four years since 2003, they have been calling the attention of local officials to act on the audit report but to no avail.

The COA also questioned the disbursement of project funds, made at a time they were asking for a review of the contract.

In its report, the COA said as of December 2005, P31 million had already been paid to the contractor despite its failure to do its job.

In various radio interviews, Emano, who is now vice mayor, repeatedly denied any anomaly behind the Scantel project.

He said he was willing to be investigated.

Defective

But Abaday and Ocon said there was no need to look farther to determine that the deal was really irregular.

They said that in the four barangays where the project was delivered, defective pieces of equipment were provided, which rendered them useless.

In Salug, Zamboanga del Norte, local officials are also demanding an explanation from the national government over the fate of the multimillion-dollar TSB project there.

Salug Mayor Jesus Lim said they consider the TSB project “as souvenir, a display and orange elephant.”

Since 2000, 92 telephone booths had been installed in 23 villages of the town but residents have no use for them.

On its website, however, the CICT said that “all the systems are now operational in provincial levels.”

Dead phones

Lim said he did not know of any working unit in his town installed under the TSB.

“It’s an ugly orange sight sending a wrong impression to the people. These are all white elephants. These telephone lines are all wasted. The funds used for these units are also wasted,” Edgar Saldias, a Salug councilor, said.

The Inquirer tested some units in Barangay Mucas and found that none worked.

In Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte, 65-year-old farmer Sixto Lagala said in 2000, the phones were working when these were still newly installed.

Fortunata Postigo, an equipment operator for the Department of Transportation and Communication in Salug, confirmed that most of the units installed under the TSB project were not working anymore.

She said some working units were converted into “telepono sa kabahayan” so that residents could make use of them.

Postigo said with the installation of the lines intended for the phone booths to residences, they were able to provide communication facilities to about 200 consumers within Zamboanga del Norte.

New CICT chair to report in October

By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- The newly appointed chair of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) will report next month, an executive of the agency told INQUIRER.net Friday.

For more than a month since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo named Ray Anthony Roxas Chua as the new chair of the CICT, he has not yet reported to his government post.

"I was told that he will report next month," said CICT Commissioner Tim Diaz de Rivera, currently acting as officer-in-charge of the agency.

Diaz de Rivera was also told that Chua is currently in the United States taking care of some personal business.

Arroyo announced Chua's appointment on August 3, 2007 in Cebu.

Chua will replace former CICT chairman Ramon Sales who took an indefinite leave that led to his resignation for health reasons on June 2007.

Chua is a graduate of Wharton and is in his early 30s. He was appointed by Arroyo because of his background in computer science. He is also affiliated with the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce Industry Inc.

Comelec, CICT: Not enough time to automate barangay polls

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines -- Both the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) believe there is not enough time to automate the village polls.

"There is not enough time. There are only six to seven weeks left until October 29, 2007," said CICT Commissioner Tim Diaz de Rivera, who is also chair of the technical advisory committee to the Comelec, in reaction to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's statement Friday.

The technical advisory committee is composed of several government agencies and private sector stakeholders handpicked by the CICT.

Arroyo announced that she wanted the elections computerized starting with the barangay (village) elections next month. She said this during the diamond jubilee celebration of the Woman Suffrage Philippines at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

“I don't know how it can be done. We are just starting to evaluate potential vendors. But last July, we did suggest non-binding mock elections for the October elections. The Comelec rejected it because there was not enough time," Diaz de Rivera said.

The government executive stressed that the technical advisory committee and the Comelec have agreed to implement an automated election system for the ARMM polls in August 2008.

Last week, there was a suggestion to hold automated mock elections in November in select areas with minimal cost to government, Diaz de Rivera said.

"We haven't decided on which areas. The law [Republic Act 9369] requires us to do it in 12 locations covering 5 percent of voting population. Since there's no funding available for pilot implementation," the government executive said.

He added that the technical advisory committee is also looking at holding a vendor road show, where vendors could showcase their technology during mock elections in one designated area.

"The idea here is to understand various technologies of different vendors and from that activity combined with our own research, we will recommend what Comelec can use during ARMM elections," Diaz de Rivera said.

The government executive also stressed that RA 9369 or the Automated Election System law requires Comelec to have a six-month lead time for voter education.

"If we wanted to automate the barangay elections, voter education should have started as early as February or March.

Meanwhile, James Jimenez, spokesperson from Comelec, agreed with the assessment of CICT Commissioner Diaz de Rivera.

Jimenez also stressed that there is no "consolidation of votes" during the village polls, which involves 42,000 barangays.

"There's no consolidation of votes during the barangay elections. We might be under-utilizing the technology that will be used," he said, adding that the Comelec is preparing for automating the ARMM elections.

Nonetheless, Jimenez said that the Comelec will wait for the recommendations of the technical advisory committee.

Comelec officials were unavailable for additional comment.

The CICT head has been mandated under Republic Act 9369, which amends the Automated Election Law (RA 8436), to name at least six non-government representatives to come out with guidelines on how to automate elections by 2010.

High-tech ID system gets additional funding

By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net


MANILA, Philippines -- The multi-agency project Unified Multi-purpose ID System (UMID) is set for the next phase of implementation after receiving $502,534 from the United States government through the US Trade and Development Agency.

The Philippine government, through the e-Government Fund of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), has also allocated a corresponding amount of P88.75 million.

The next phase of UMID, which started pilot tests late last year, is to create 5,000 biometric cards with electronic chips. Likewise, an automated fingerprint identification system would be fine-tuned and integration with a common reference number for the pilot test recipients at the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), National Statistics Office (NSO) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHILHEALTH).

The next phase will also see the purchase of several biometric machines that capture the image of the would-be cardholder, signature and index finger prints.

The other card-issuing government agencies that are part of the UMID project are the Government Service Insurance System, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Pag-IBIG, Philippine Postal Office, Commission on Election, Social Security System, Land Bank and Philippine Postal Saving Bank.

Through UMID, Filipino citizens need only one type of card that have unique common reference numbers to grant them access to government services.

In an interview with INQUIRER.net, NEDA Assistant Director-General Danny Pabellon said the next phase would start in the first week of October. It would still be a full government project and no private sector has been tapped to conduct the project.

Pabellon said that NEDA is still working on the technical specification, the terms of reference and the request for proposals, which is set to be completed by December 2007. The documents are to be finally released by February 2008.

“This would be a build, operate and transfer project. By June 2008, we’ll be approving the contract to the winning bidder and full nationwide implementation will start in July 2008.

Dispelling misconceptions of potential security breaches of UMID, Pabellon noted that only 14 items will be included in the card. These are the cardholder’s name, address, birth date and birthplace, sex, picture, signature, height, weight, marital status, parents’ names, index finger prints and tax identification number.

“All the rest of the information are retained by the respective government agencies. We’ll ensure the security of each of the databases to prevent information theft,” Pabellon reassured.

The UMID is similar to the United States’ Social Security Card, which contains information about American citizens and indexes their employment records, student records and even health and credit card records. While not a requirement, the social security card speeds up processing of government services rendered to individuals.

Moreover, the UMID will not be a required card. Filipino citizens can still get separate cards from the different agencies to access individual services.

Palace has named CICT chairman--official

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net

MAKATI CITY-- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has appointed a new chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, a government official told INQUIRER.net Thursday.

CICT Commissioner Tim Diaz de Rivera said in a chance interview that he had been told by a Palace official that a replacement had been designated for resigned chairman Ramon Sales.

Asked if he already knew who is the replacement, Diaz de Rivera said the name of the presidential appointee was not disclosed but the Palace official said the new chairman came from the information technology industry.

Diaz de Rivera was left as officer-in-charge when Sales filed his indefinite leave effective June 30, 2007.

Arroyo accepted his resignation this month.

The CICT commissioner left public service due to health reasons.

Prior to being appointed as chairman of the CICT, Sales was a banking executive at the Bank of the Philippine Islands.

Diaz de Rivera said that Sales' personal expectations about his job and the real demands of the position did not match.

The CICT has been rocked over the past years with resignations from its commissioners, including its chairman.

Diaz de Rivera is currently the only commissioner left under this Palace-created commission after Lorenzo Formoso was moved to the Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) following the decision to move back the Telecommunications Office under the DoTC.

Formoso however remains a legal counsel to CICT

Questions hound national broadband network project

By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines -- Controversy continues to hound the multi-billion-peso National Broadband Network (NBN) project of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC).

The DoTC is pushing the network as a means to cut government spending in telecommunications, which is estimated to be worth about P4 billion every year. The agency estimates that government can save around P3.6 billion in communications expense if this project pushes through.

Discussions on the NBN project started back in 2005, said DoTC Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso who also holds a concurrent position as commissioner of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

A policy-making body also directed to "establish and administer comprehensive and integrated programs in information and communications technology," the CICT started brainstorming on the NBN for government.

This ambitious project aims create an intranet or an "internal" network for government institutions, as mandated under the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000, and other policies that followed.

Under the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000, government is mandated to "install an electronic network" to facilitate transactions between government agencies from the national down to the local level. This government network is seen to reduce government's expenses on information and communications technologies, the law said.

The law also mandates the establishment of a web-based government portal, and a "domestic Internet exchange system" to help communications and electronic transactions between government agencies, and eventually to the public.

The CICT is specifically required to create and implement "an integrated government information and communications infrastructure development program" that would coordinate all existing government programs.

The Department of Science and Technology's Preginet (Philippine Research, Education and Government Information Network) is currently one of biggest government networks established, said Tim Diaz de Rivera, CICT commissioner and in-charge of e-government projects.

NBN project takes shape

In 2005, the CICT was appointed in charge of restructuring two government agencies: the National Computer Center and the Telecommunications Office (Telof), which was placed under the supervision of the CICT.

The CICT set up an information infrastructure group and mandated former Telof head Frank Perez to oversee implementation of the NBN project.

Perez eventually resigned and Formoso took over as head, while holding on to his concurrent position at the CICT.

On July 2006, ZTE Corp. signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Department of Trade Industry (DTI) Secretary Peter Favila, Formoso said. Under this MOU, ZTE agreed to bring in investments in the Philippines through various projects including one on telecommunications, said Formoso.

In a separate interview, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Romulo Neri confirmed this MOU between the trade department and ZTE, but stressed that it was more "exploratory."

By August 2006, the ZTE submitted a proposal to the CICT to help set up an NBN. Formoso said that ZTE proposal indicated that the People's Republic of China will finance the project through a "concessional loan."

The CICT eventually endorsed ZTE's proposal to the NEDA sometime October 2006, Formoso continued.

The staff at the NEDA Infrastructure Development Division, where the project had been assigned for evaluation, confirmed this endorsement from the CICT. But they said the proposal did not indicate if the proposal came from ZTE. The proposal indicated a generic NBN project.

"It could have been from ZTE. NEDA does not evaluate suppliers for projects," Neri stressed. Asked if the DoTC-endorsed project proposed a build-to-operate scheme, the Socio-Economic Planning secretary said it was among the options considered.

On December 2006, Formoso said that a Chinese ambassador announced the Chinese government had agreed to finance the country's NBN project and had chosen ZTE as the major contractor and supplier. On that same month, the Amsterdam Holdings Inc. said that it submitted its own unsolicited proposal to the DoTC that involved a build-to-operate scheme, Marinelle O'Santos, legal counsel for AHI, told INQUIRER.net in a separate interview.

By December 5, 2006, the lawyer revealed that ZTE had also sent a counter-proposal to AHI suggesting that the holdings firm should adopt its NBN proposal, O'Santos said. AHI had sent a request for information to Chinese suppliers Huawei and ZTE as early as September 2006. Huawei quickly responded on September, while ZTE asked for an extension.

In a timeline it prepared, AHI showed that DoTC had set February as the deadline for submission of unsolicited proposals for the NBN project.

Return of Telof

On February 2007, the Palace announced that it was moving Telof back to the DoTC, which originally oversaw its mandate. In an interview, Formoso said the government is planning to transform Telof into a government broadband service provider.

According to the NEDA Infrastructure Development Division's records, the DoTC-CICT reported the result of the evaluation done by the Bids and Awards Committee for Information and Communications Technology (BAC-ICT) commissioned by the DoTC, in response to the February 13 instruction of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

NEDA said that the BAC-ICT recommended the establishment of a 'single broadband network" that would satisfy government's requirements.

On March 23, the DoTC formally endorsed the revised proposal for the project, as it took account the BAC-ICT recommendations, NEDA added. Three days after, the NBN project was presented to the joint NEDA Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) Technical Board and the Cabinet Committee, composed of different government agencies.

NEDA said that the NEDA-ICC deferred approval of the project and recommended DoTC to refine the proposal.

"I was there as part of the technical working group created by NEDA," said Formoso who represented the CICT.

On March 29, 2007, the NBN project was approved during the joint NEDA-ICC and NEDA Board meeting with a total project cost of about P16.5 billion.

Around April 2007, NEDA director general Romulo Neri wrote a letter to the Chinese government saying the agency was endorsing the NBN project for financing. Neri confirmed writing the letter.

On the same month, President Arroyo flew to China to witness the signing of the contract between the Philippine government and the Chinese government.

Formoso said the supply contract will only push through after "favorable [legal] opinion" from the Department of Justice is issued, and that government finally agrees to the proposed loan agreement.

Lost contract

Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza and ZTE Corp. Vice President Yu Yong inked the $329.5-million supply contract for a national broadband network, a statement from the Office of Press Secretary's website said.

This was the same contract that was later reported "lost" by the Department of Trade and Industry commercial attaché for China. The National Bureau of Investigation had suspected that the contract had been stolen.

"If you have an executed agreement, it is not yet effective until it fulfills the two conditions set," added Formoso who is also a lawyer.

"The issue of transparency is really a non-issue because the proposal did pass through different agencies through the NEDA-ICC," Formoso said, as he denied reports that accused the DoTC of keeping this project under wraps.

Formoso said that the DoTC had reconstituted the lost contract based on the "control copies that we had." The reconstituted contract was signed by ZTE officials and DoTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza in late May 2007, just after the NBI came out with its report on its own investigation.

A source privy to the NBN project said that any reconstituted contract should pass through the NEDA-ICC again. Neri was not available for further comment.

A staff at the NEDA Infrastructure Development Division, said that the supplier contract does not to pass through the agency until it has been finalized.

Transparency questioned

The DoTC official said proposals from Filipino company Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI) and Arescom were also received.

"The Amsterdam Holdings also presented to the CICT their proposal, which came in later after we received the proposal from ZTE," Formoso said.

Formoso said that the Amsterdam proposal was later given to NEDA "but with a cautionary note that they have not disclosed who their partners were."

The NEDA Infrastructure Development Division, however, could not recall receiving any proposal from AHI, nor did it receive any NBN project proposal that follows the build-operate-transfer scheme. Under a BOT scheme, a private contractor will sets up and finance the project until a period of time when it turns over the entire operations to government.

Neri stressed that NEDA does not evaluate proposals from suppliers.

Formoso said the DoTC eventually found out that AHI only had a capitalization of P625,000, which the legal counsel of AHI had confirmed.

AHI's O'Santos, however, said that the holdings firm had increased its capitalization to P11 million.

"The Amsterdam Holdings was set up to bid for the project…but we didn't want to place all our eggs in one basket," added the lawyer who said that the company had tapped Chinese supplier Huawei to become its technical partner for this project.

Jose De Venecia III, who is chairman of Broadband Philippines, is the principal of the holdings firm, the lawyer said.

Track record

In a Powerpoint presentation on the NBN project shown to a local business community, Formoso noted that AHI failed to show any "technical capability much less a track record on IP-based telecommunications."

The DoTC executive said the AHI proposed a "predominantly mobile network with very limited coverage."

"It does not have financial resources as its paid up capital is a mere P625 thousand pesos and has no firm commitments from equity or debt investors," Formosa's presentation added.

In December 2006, Amsterdam Holdings filed an unsolicited proposal with the government to build the NBN under a Build-Own-Operate scheme. It was to be financed privately.

Formoso said that Arescom, on the other hand, proposed to use an "outdated technology" including satellite that has very limited coverage, he said. "Arescom is a wifi and DSL product manufacturer with no telecom system integration track record," he added.

The NEDA Infrastructure Development Division pointed out that the Arescom project was a Department of Interior and Local Government project that was endorsed to the agency years back. It was formerly called the Comnet 2005 project, where Arescom was the supplier.

DoTC said that a comparative evaluation of the proposals for the NBN project showed that AHI offered to do the project at $240 million, while Arescom proposed $135 million.
The ZTE's proposal cost about $329 million.

The deliverables, however, varied as AHI offered to deploy 85 base stations and 500 cell sites, while government had to buy its own cell phone units and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) terminals, the DoTC presentation said.

Arescom, on the other end, had to deploy 21 base stations and 83 customer premise equipment, along with a satellite central hub station, it added.

Specifications

ZTE's proposal involved deploying 145 repeater stations, 30 IP-based virtual private network nodes, 300 base stations, 25,844 customer premise equipment with VoIP terminals, and the establishment of one Internet data center doubling as the Network Operating Center with back up.

The AHI lawyer, however, disclosed that the original ZTE project proposal, which the company believes to be the same proposal given to the CICT, would cost government $262 million. This was based on the counter-proposal given by the Chinese supplier to AHI in December 22, 2006 after the holdings firm requested for a proposal after it submitted its unsolicited bid to the DoTC.

AHI was later surprised when the DoTC advertisement revealed that the ZTE project cost had increased to $329 million, O'Santos said.

Showing its own side-by-side proposal analysis of the ZTE and its own, O'Santos said that AHI's cost was not too far off from ZTE's proposal. "But ours is zero cost to government," she added.

"All we ask is that the process should be followed. Why didn't the DoTC say that our proposal was not complete? They never gave us the opportunity to complete our proposal," she said.

AHI also defended its decision to offer a mobile solution to government since a Commission on Audit report shows that the bulk of government telecommunications spending is going to cellular and national direct distance calls.

"We're offering to reduce the cellular cost to government," the lawyer said.

Again, AHI's own timeline showed that ZTE had submitted its original proposal of September 6 to DoTC and requests for time for amendments on February 26, 2007.